Umpire makes a classy ejection of Yankees’ pitching coach Matt Blake

Matt Blake, pitching coach for the New York Yankees, was graciously ejected by home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski on Sunday.

Is Mike Muchlinski the most midwestern name for a baseball umpire you can think of? Even while ejecting Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake for swearing at him from the dugout, the poor guy can’t help but be polite.

With a 4-3 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees took the field in the top of the fifth inning, but things quickly unraveled after starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt walked Isaac Paredes, gave up singles to Wander Franco and Brandon Lowe, and allowed a run to score on a sacrifice fly by Randy Arozarena. Manager Aaron Boone walked Josh Lowe and then replaced Schmidt with Albert Abreu. Abreu then allowed Taylor Walls to hit a grand slam off of him, putting the Rays up 8-4.

Muchlinski heard it from the dugout not long after, thanks to Blake. When Muchlinski saw Blake off, he said, “See you later!”

A year ago on May 22, 2022, Matt Blake had his last ejection. During the Yankees’ 5-0 loss in the nightcap against the Chicago White Sox, pitching coach Matt Blake was ejected from the game in the third inning by home-plate umpire Greg Gibson. The incident occurred after Chicago’s Tim Anderson hit a squib on the third-base side and reached first base on an infield single, with Luis Severino slipping while attempting to field the ball.

Despite Yankees manager Aaron Boone arguing that the ball had hit Anderson’s foot while he was still in the batter’s box, the call was deemed unreviewable. As a result, Blake was thrown out of the dugout by Gibson when it was ruled that Anderson could remain at first base. This marked Blake’s second ejection with the Yankees, the first being in September of last year for arguing balls and strikes.

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